Rockford area’s jobless rate hit 13.4 percent in May

By Sean F. Driscoll

BusinessRockford.com

Students looking for summer work are flooding the job market and having little luck landing a job — one reason, experts say, that the area unemployment rate ticked up in May.

May’s unemployment rate in Boone and Winnebago counties was 13.4 percent, according to data released today by the Illinois Department of Employment Security. That’s up 1.3 percentage points from April and 5.4 percentage points from a year ago.

The increase reverses two straight months of unemployment rate declines. It’s the highest May unemployment rate since 1983, according to IDES data.

More than 3,800 people entered the labor force in May, but the employment rolls only increased by 1,101 people. Tom Austin, an IDES labor market analyst, said the bump in people seeking jobs is a typical May occurrence.

“Typically during the summer months, the labor force increases as individuals who had been in school are seeking employment,” he said. “There’s more competition for those younger individuals entering the work force, so they may be having more trouble finding employment than in the past.”

Kelly Haugen, director of career services at Rockford College, said many students and recent graduates have been reporting difficulties finding work.

“Just in this past few weeks, we’ve had a lot of requests for resume help and interviews,” she said. “I would definitely say it’s a very competitive job market.”

The Chrysler Group LLC’s Belvidere plant is continuing to affect local jobless numbers. The Rockford metro area, which includes Boone and Winnebago counties, lost 1,200 manufacturing jobs from April to May. In May, however, the plant was idled all month after the company’s bankruptcy filing, while in April the plant was operating one shift, which could account for some of the change.

Reach staff writer Sean F. Driscoll at 815-987-1346 or sdriscoll@rrstar.com.